The program for Wednesday 15th started with a conference by Dr. Ákos Horváth (Szent István University, Hungary) entitled “Standardization of procedures and reporting in cryopreservation”, in which he made a review of ideas, showing the need of standardization of protocols and guidelines, which is the fundamental axis and main objective of AQUAGAMETE.
After a break, we enjoyed the conference of Dr. Paz Herráez (Universidad de León, Spain), entitled “What types of cells can we preserve and for what purpose”, in which she showed the wide variety of possibilities regarding the type of cells (somatic, blastomers, gametes) that can be used with the aim of cryopreserving genetic material, emphasizing the case of fish.
In the afternoon, Dr. Marta Fernández Riesco and Dr. Vanesa Robles (Universidad de León, Spain) conducted a practical session entitled “How to visualize and recover primordial germ cells for further cryopreservation?”. Students had to first melt capillaries for preparing the injection tips, file their ends in an appropriate angle and finally, using their own just made tips, they made their first practices with microinjectors, injecting trypan blue dyed medium in zebrafish eggs.

The working day ended with the visit to the facilities of Centro Tecnológico de Acuicultura (CTAQUA). Very kindly, the staff explained to the group their objectives and functioning. They showed us all the facilities, which have a great potential to this sector.